COUNTY NEWS: ‘I would rather wear a thong of barbed wire’

A Sussex theatre has been flooded with complaints from disappointed panto fans after unveiling this year’s star pantomime turn, X-Factor contestant Honey G.

More than 700 comments have been left on the White Rock Theatre’s Facebook page, with many expressing their dismay at the booking.

Disappointed theatre-goers accused the White Rock of ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’ by booking the wannabe rapper to appear in Sleeping Beauty as ‘Fairy G’.

Other less complimentary comments about the reality TV star’s appearance included “I would rather set my face on fire” and “I would rather wear a thong made of barbed wire, whilst doing the 300 metre hurdles, in a gale”.

A number of people have threatened not to make their regular group bookings, with many others saying they will be heading down the coast to Eastbourne for their pantomime fix this Christmas.

But the team which runs the White Rock is sticking by its choice.

Lorna Strawson, theatre director at the White Rock, said: “I’m enormously proud of the great pantomimes we present at The White Rock Theatre.

“Pantomime has always been the highlight of our year.

“The online reaction to the casting of Honey G has been everything we’d expected – she split the opinion of the judges when she was on the X Factor, and now she’s splitting the opinion of our panto bookers!

“Our audiences in Hastings are wonderful – they have a great reputation for their warmth, good humour and sense of fun, especially at Christmas.

“We’d ask people to make up their minds once they’ve seen the show, but in the meantime I can reassure them that Sleeping Beauty will have all their favourite pantomime elements, jokes, slapstick, singing, dancing… just with a rapping Fairy G on top!

Other stars to tread the boards for the White Rock Theatre pantomimes include Union J singer Jaymi Hensley, EastEnders’ legends Jessie Wallace and Leslie Grantham and the youngster member of the world’s original boy band, Jimmy Osmond.

Jimmy in particular proved so popular in 2010 that fans flocked from all over the country to see his Buttons in Cinderella.

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